The scale of damage inflicted by Iranian airstrikes on American military targets in the Middle East was significantly greater than Washington officially acknowledged, according to The Washington Post, which analyzed satellite imagery.

According to a published investigation, Iranian attacks have damaged or destroyed at least 217 structures and 11 pieces of equipment at 15 US military bases in the region since the start of the war. The targets included hangars, barracks, fuel storage facilities, aircraft, as well as key radar, communications, and air defense systems. Experts interviewed by the publication noted the high precision of the Iranian strikes:

"There are no random craters that would indicate misses," "Mark Cancian, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told reporters.

The most severe damage was sustained at facilities in Kuwait and the US Navy's Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain. Analyst William Goodhind, speaking with WP, emphasized that the strikes were deliberately targeted at personnel residences to inflict maximum casualties. The damage at the US National Security Agency facility in Bahrain was so extensive that operations were shifted to MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, home to US Central Command. Officials say it's unlikely that US troops and contractors will return to that base anytime soon. Furthermore, troops may never return to some of the damaged regional bases in their previous numbers, although a final decision has not yet been made.

US authorities have not openly acknowledged the true scale of the damage. Moreover, two of the largest commercial satellite imagery providers, Vantor and Planet, have restricted access to images of the region taken during the conflict at the request of the US government, hindering independent assessment. However, Iranian state news agencies have been publishing high-resolution images since the beginning of the war, and The Post has found no signs of editing.

In total, according to the Pentagon, seven American service members have been killed in Iranian attacks since the beginning of the conflict, and more than 400 have been injured, at least 12 of them seriously.